EC 2009: First title for Khokhlova and
Novitski

Helsinki
- Day Four

In the ladies competition there
are two Finns in the lead. First is Laura Lepist√∂, despite the single
Axel, second is Susanna P√∂yki√∂, who skated clean but got only low
levels for her spiral and spins. Reigning champion Carolina Kostner
is currently only in third because she fell on the take-off of her Lutz.

"I'm pretty satisfied with my skating today. It was annoying
the Axel came out as a single, but otherwise I felt confident. After
my skate I felt so happy and relieved", Lepist√∂ said. P√∂yki√∂
had similar feelings: "I felt great before the program and even
better after it. I'm a little bit disappointed because of the levels
of my spins and the spiral, but otherwise it was a clean program.
Perhaps judging here is stricter than normally. I'll concentrate
more on spins and spirals in the free skating, on positions and
rotations, and remember that each element counts."

However, there was no doubt about Carolina Kostner's missed Lutz
- she fell even before she could jump. "I cannot be really happy
with my skate because I made one stupid mistake. You cannot really
prepare for it because it almost never happens at practice. Since
I didn't get to even rotate my Lutz I didn't have a chance to fight
its landing", Kostner explained.¬†

Skating to victory

The ice dance podium was really special: while Khokhlova and Novitski
won their first European gold medal, silver medalists Federica Faiella
and Massimo Scali, as well as bronze medalists Sinead
and John Kerr earned their first European medals ever.
"We want to thank our coaches, our friends and everyone
who helped us, as well as the great audience forsupported
us. We are very happy", Khokhlova said.

Massimo
Scali revealed that his partner was crying for joy, and John Kerr
added: "Usually it's the girl who cries but in our team I started
to cry."

Emotional programs were received very emotionally
by the spectacular audience; Sinead Kerr also mentioned the energy
in the arena: "We saw the Mexican waves during the warm-up, it
was very electric. It was great to skate in such an atmosphere."

And for the ladies free skating it can be even more fascinating
- the Hartwall Arena is completely sold out¬Ö